Special Areas Advisory Council holds spring meeting
The Special Areas Advisory Council held its spring meeting on March 27 and 28. The group welcomed Gordon Long as the newly elected representative for Special Area No. 4, Subdivision 1. The group discussed appointments to various boards and commissions, as there had been some vacancies due to the recent by-election. Gordon Long was appointed to represent Special Area No. 4 on several boards and committees, including the Acadia Foundation, Big Country Waste Management Commission, and East Central Ambulance Association.
The Advisory Council reviewed planned 2024 projects and provided direction on issues affecting residents and businesses. Regional projects were discussed, including phase two of the regional irrigation feasibility being completed with the MD of Acadia, Canada Infrastructure Bank, and Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. Earlier in 2024, the Advisory Council recommended the water licence application for the regional irrigation project be submitted to Alberta Environment. The water licence related to the Special Areas Water Supply Project was withdrawn to support this new application.
The need for sustainable healthcare that meets the needs of communities in the region was discussed, including key projects Special Areas is partnering on. Special Areas has committed $5M towards funding the construction of a 14-bed dementia and assisted living unit in Oyen in partnership with the
Acadia Foundation and the Government of Alberta. This critically needed project will be the first of its kind in the Special Areas region and will allow individuals to age in place in the community. Another key initiative discussed was the nurse practitioner pilot project in the Consort region. In 2023, Special Areas committed to funding two years for a nurse practitioner in Consort, significantly enhancing medical services in the community. A nurse practitioner has been recruited and is expected to begin practicing this summer.
The Advisory Council welcomed Prairie Land and Prairie Rose School Divisions presenters. Dr. Reagan Weeks, Superintendent for Prairie Rose School Division, shared infor-
mation on a new trades program. The Advisory Council shared feedback on continuing challenges in school transportation, including long distances and time spent on buses by rural students. Cam McKeage (Superintendent) and Holli Smith (Chairperson) from Prairie Land School Division shared updates on value-added programming in the division. The importance of building community partnerships to ensure programming reflects the priorities and strengths of the region was noted. The Advisory Council thanked the school divisions for the work they do to make sure students in the Special Areas have high-quality education opportunities in our rural, remote region.
TOWN OF OYEN
Spring Has Sprung in Oyen!
"The theme for National Volunteer Week highlights the importance of every volunteer and each contribution they make at a moment when we need support more than ever. The sharing of time, skills, empathy, and creativity is vital to the inclusivity, strength, and well-being of our communities."
The Town of Oyen is home to many amazing volunteers for various groups, committees, and organizations. We are so thankful for those who step-up to volunteer their time and skills to create the community Oyen is today. The quality of life for our residents would not be the same without these volunteers.
If you are wanting to volunteer but don't know where to go, please reach out to the Town of Oyen and we can help identify opportunities that suit your interests. You can join a board or committee, or spend a few hours here and there helping as needed. Volunteer knowing you are making a difference and becoming an integral part of your community!
The Oyen Family & Community Support Services is hosting a free BBQ on April 17th from 11:30am - 2:00pm at the FCSS Community Centre on Main Street. Please join us to recognize the important contributions volunteers make to our community. We want to thank-you for all your hard work, so come out and enjoy lunch, connect with others in our community, and leave inspired.
Thank-you volunteers of Oyen & Area!
Nancy Christianson, Communications Director
Jaime Bowles, Accounting/Payroll
You can smell spring in the air and everyone is ready to get out of their houses and prepare for the season. Yard waste from clean up is to be taken to the compost pile located out between the fish pond and Oyen Concrete. As you plan for your planting this season, please keep in mind the drought emergency our province is in. Consider planting more hardy plants that thrive with low water consumption, and cut back on your lawn care needs. Watering in the evening not only ensures that your water is not evaporated, but also protects your lawn from burning. With Earth Day coming up April 22, combat mental and physical health by taking your bike to work, and spending your evening going out for walks with your family. As baseball and soccer start up, consider getting out and cheering on these young athletes!
April 22, 2024 Park the car!
National Volunteer Appreciation Week April 14-20, 2024
Railway memories
BY BERNIE KREWSKI
The photo of the CNR station in Hanna (Echo, April 3rd), constructed in 1913, is a stark reminder of the significance of local rail facilities associated with the Goose Lake Line. Railway stations were clearly one of them. I was a railway kid, my father employed by the CNR. Not only were stations designed for childhood exploration, like a laboratory, they were often perceived as majestic, the heartbeat of village life.
On May 15, 1913, page 1, the Hanna Herald published this headline in large bold letters: “New C.N.R. Station Now Started.” In smaller print: “New Station Here – Started on Monday; Will be a Large Affair and Will Surpass Any Along This Line. To be Second Class.” The system of ranking stations in those times was a customary practice.
The Herald’s report noted that “the new building is located on Railway avenue between Main Street and First street West although it is much nearer First Street than Main. Platforms will however run from the station to both streets so that traffic will not be congested.” Very reassuring to everyone I am certain!
The basement, 24 x 48 feet, “will ac-
commodate the heating system for the entire building. Being a Second Class Station, it will be something to be proud of and will amply serve the needs [of this community] for some time.”
“Material will arrive in a few days for the building proper and work will be rushed through as fast as possible so that when the schedule over this line is announced, it will be in readiness.”
More than four months later, on October 9th, the Herald informed its readers, “Station Being Painted. The paint gang of the C.N.R. arrived in town a couple of days ago and the crew is now busily engaged in putting on the outside coat of the station. The color being applied is a kind of pearl gray and will be very attractive. The interior of the station has been finished for some time, and the crew would have finished the exterior at the same time but for the rush of work further west along the line which they had to attend to.”
Diana will be delighted to hear of other railway memories from Echo readers.
Pioneer Pastoral Charge welcomes Virginia Fernando as their new office administrator! She will be in the Oyen church office on Fridays from 9 am to 3 pm. Feel free to stop in and say “Hi!”
Spring signals a re-birth of both flora and fauna in Alberta including the arrival of new wild horse foals in the backcountry. A local wild horse advocacy and watchdog organization, the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), asks the public to be aware and cautious when out in the backcountry during the next several months. VECTEEZY - STEPHAN SUEHLING
KREW KUTS The Goose Lake Line – Part 3
BY BERNIE KREWSKI
In its beginnings, the Canadian Northern Railway remained in the shadows of larger and more competitive builders like the Canadian Pacific Railway.
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The company soon found its niche by establishing its substructure on the prairies despite expanding eastward and cultivating a developmental and pioneering outlook. Its founders, William Mackenzie and Donald Mann, were strong believers in the future of the Canadian West. Their officials consistently demonstrated a willingness to work in partnership with governments, concentrating on servicing the local transportation needs of the prairies and the economic realities of farming. As railway scholar Ted Regehr notes, the CNR was “very much the West’s own product designed to serve the needs of the West.”
Three other highly influential factors were on the horizon in the late 1890s, expediting the later development of the Goose Lake Line – progressive government policies, immigration, and a founding prairie newspaper. These major catalysts of change happened to be closely connected.
Ontario-born Frank Oliver travelled from Winnipeg to Edmonton in 1880, accompanied by a printing press. It soon became a jewel of the landscape. With telegraph operator Alex Taylor, they founded the Edmonton Bulletin, initially a weekly newspaper. For the next twenty-five years, the Bulletin and the Winnipeg Free Press were the most comprehensive source of printed news on the Prairies. Each offered a different and contrasting point of view editorially. Reading back issues, I was struck by the Bulletin’s range of coverage reaching across three provinces, enhanced by utilizing telegraphs – then a new technology.
Columns in The Bulletin often featured two prominent leaders of their generation – pro-immigration spokesmen. Besides owning and operating a newspaper, Frank Oliver was a member of the territorial governing body, the North-West Council, from 1883 to 1885. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories in 1888 and 1894 and then to the House of Commons 1896-1917.
Clifford Sifton, lawyer, politician, business executive, is described by his-
torian David J. Hall as “one of the ablest politicians of his time.” He became federal Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs in 1896. Possessing a dynamic view of the role of government in stimulating economic development, he became the strongest voice in Canada promoting immigration.
The title of Wayne Arthurson’s book, “Alberta’s Weekly Newspapers; Writing the First Draft of History” (2012), replicates what occurred in many issues of The Edmonton Bulletin. They told a detailed and marvellous story about immigration in Canada.
For example, eleven hundred immigrants arrive (May 10, 1897); another train with 130 (May 20); a thousand more (July 8) – pages and pages of news reports and stories. By 1897 it was clear that levels of immigration from Great Britain were insufficient to attract enough potential farmers to fill the “empty space” on the prairies. A major shift was occurring in Canada’s immigration policy, opening entries from central and eastern Europe, although often with some reservations and opposition.
In the meantime, there was a nominal amount of homestead activity on what was known as the “Old Bone Trail” southwest of Saskatoon. This was a popular travel route between what is now Rosetown and Saskatoon. Bones lying on the prairies since bison disappeared in 1879 were collected in Saskatoon and sold to buyers in Minnesota for various purposes, including fertilizer and as a colouring agent in paint and ink.
The Delisle family arrived from North Dakota in 1901 to the site of the village named after them. Other settlers came in 1905, settling on a fertile belt known as “Goose Lake country.” They lobbied for a railway to move their crops to market. When the railway finally arrived, they were forced to move three miles north to the new townsite.
CNR vice-president Mann announced on May 11, 1908, that construction of the Goose Lake Line would commence. But the exact route had not been worked out.
“Spying Out the Land” was the term used to establish routes for railway lines. The “dreamer” who “spied out” the Goose Lake Line will be recounted in my next column.